Globalization is a game changer for America

"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness." - ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE IN "Democracy in America"

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The current wave of globalization, launched primarily by the United States, is a game-changer and demands a paradigm shift. Most of us have not adjusted to the new reality nor seriously considered making painful changes that challenge our self-enhancing assumptions.

The democratic and prosperous nations, especially, were wracked by the financial and economic crises and began to realize, as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan courageously stated to Congress in 2008, that there was a "flaw in the model ... that defines how the world works. ... I was shocked, because I had been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well."

Suddenly and harshly, it was realized we had not reached "the end of history" but a new and destabilizing frontier.

Developing nations, some of them undemocratic or evolving toward democracy, have accounted for two-thirds of global economic growth over the last five years. According to World Bank President Zoellick, there is now a need for inclusive global economic growth. It is no longer a matter of being charitable to the developing nations; instead, he stated on CNN on May 13 that the World Bank needs to listen to its clients instead of coming to them, as before, with top-down solutions.

Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz had made the same recommendation after being chief economist at the World Bank. Perhaps the affluent nations are meant to take a cue and begin to listen to the developing nations.

It is encouraging that the Group of Eight quickly evolved to the G-20 nations in 2008 and that central banks agreed to act collaboratively to address the threat to the global economy. It is improbable that the lesson will facilitate the necessary changes unless a new paradigm unfolds. President Abraham Lincoln once said that as our world is new, so we must think anew.

The call of globalization is toward a worldview founded on interdependence instead of supremacy and on the enduring fruits of association instead of on grandiose slogans, such as "winning is the only thing."

Why, though, should the United States pursue this goal? The new frontier demands not only a new paradigm but also leadership. The U.S. will not retain global preeminence by desperately hanging on to vestiges of its glory nor by the divisive communication rampant in government, the media and society at large.

The hope and optimism, for which Americans have been known, will erode if this culture of unrestrained confrontation and self-indulgence continues to take root. At a time when innovation and knowledge are essential to competing in the world economy, American children are losing their creativity, and the nation's excellence in education is dissolving.

Yet it is not too late, and it is our history that holds the answers: a return to honoring the "self-evident" truths, a "decent respect for the opinions of mankind," and the committed, educated, responsible engagement of citizens. This is the source of the achievements of our nation. We, the people -- all of the people, not only the best and the brightest -- need to ask what changes and sacrifices are required in order to set a new direction. That direction should be obvious to a nation of pioneers: to look toward the future as an adventure and, in the spirit of Thomas Edison, to courageously rise to the challenges we face and to learn from the failures of our recent past rather than looking for someone to blame.

How? We must listen to the call of globalization and to others. Building on Lincoln's inspiration, we can spearhead a new way of thinking that spreads the government of the people, by the people and for the people throughout the earth. It is first necessary, though, to acknowledge that democracy and leadership cannot be imposed, whether by force or by manipulation; they must be exemplified.

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Hector Garcia is a former vice president for emerging markets for Wells Fargo Bank, former executive director of Minnesotans for NAFTA and former district executive director for the National Conference for Community & Justice.